Ghana becomes latest African country to cancel domestic football season

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) canceled the 2019/2020 domestic football season due to disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The season had been suspended on March 16 and the GFA had been in discussions with the Ghanaian government, CAF and FIFA since on the way forward for the season.

The GFA had given itself until the end of June to make a decision and had been considering all scenarios in its engagements with stakeholders.

“The Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has taken a decision to cancel the 2019/2020 football season following a marathon meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the GFA Secretariat in Accra,” the GFA said in a statement.

The GFA added that there will be no promotion or relegation as a result of the decision.

“Accordingly, all records associated with the season have been expunged but fines accrued must be honoured by clubs,” the statement said.

Consequently, Asante Kotoko SC and AshGold SC were selected to represent Ghana in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup respectively.

GFA President Kurt Okraku noted that any decision to cancel the league will be another trying period for players, clubs, referees and everybody involved in football.

The Executive Council was expected to hold another meeting with the start of the next football season as one of the main agendas.

The GFA further stated that it will continue to hold discussions with stakeholders and sponsors on the fallout from the cancellation of the season.

A number of African countries have already announced the cancellation of their domestic football seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the nations are: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, DR Congo, Kenya, Mauritius and Niger